Quark-hadron matter at low temperature

An approach is proposed to the description of nuclear matter that may consist of free (nonbound) quarks coexisting with hadrons of arbitrary n-quark configurations (n=3, 6, 9, 12, ...). The coexistence of hadron clusters and nonbound quarks results from the nuclear reactions of fusion and decay. The low-temperature properties of quark-hadron matter are investigated. We have found the point of nucleation of the Bose condensate of six-quark clusters at the density ρnuc(6) ≅ 0.8ρ0 and the point of nucleation of nonbound quarks ρnuc(q) ≅ 2.1ρ0, where ρ0 is the normal quark density of the nuclear matter. It is shown that with increasing density deconfinement of quarks proceeds as a result of a gradual decay of clusters. (orig.)